By Ellie McCartney
The University of Nebraska at Omaha’s Theater production of “The Wolves,” played out by an all-female cast, addressed social issues, such as genocide, menstrual cycles, abortion and even “the big “C” word;” otherwise known as cancer through gossip.
Although, these topics are not often discussed in society, each character in the show was able to bring a unique perspective to the table. Take number two’s perspective for example, as an immigrant from Asia she has always used pads, yet other girls on the team try to convince her to use tampons instead. But, she is scared to make the change.
With a variety of characters including an Asian immigrant, class clown, team captain, know it all, nervous nelly, party girls and an awkward new girl, the play depicted a lot of stereotypes that we think of when we think about teenage girls.
Although, the play depicted a very raw and honest form of the inter weavings of teenage girl relationships, it also had a great deal of humor as well. Numbers 13, 2, 46, 11 and 8 gave a great deal of personality and fun to the otherwise harsh and serious undertones of the story.
An example of this can be found in the first thirty minutes of the play, where the team is practicing before a game. The workout routine involved buttkicks, high knees and a lot of enthusiasm as the girls ran back forth across the stage showing off their own unique version of each routine.
As we all remember from the days of high school, teenage girls like to gossip which can lead to rumors. The rumor in this case was that number seven, a party girl character, had an abortion.
However, in reality she had only used Plan-B, otherwise known as the “day-after pill.” Feeling betrayed by her friends number seven lashed out at her team broke ties with all of her team.
As the play comes to an end, emotions rise as the girls find out some terrible news. Not quite sure how to process the tragedy, the girls come together for their last game of the season. To honor their team member, number eight, who died in an accident before their last game.
With a heartbreaking ending, the mom of number seven carries her dead daughter’s orange soccer ball onto the field and places it in the middle of the team. The team comes together and does one final cheer with their hands on the ball, chanting “We are the Wolves…”
The UNO theater departments “The Wolves” will run from April 17 to 20. Tickets are available on campus at the ticket office located in the Fine Arts building.
Although, this play had its ups and downs of emotions, it gave great insight to trials and tribulations of growing up as woman.
